Question For Spearmaster

[Te tutava nei matou]

SINCE YOU'RE IN THAILAND PERHAPS YOU CAN ANSWER THIS:

THERE ARE LOTS OF STARVING POOR PEOPLE IN THAILAND, I'VE BEEN THERE

THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF WEALTH, INCLUDING MANY SOLID GOLD BUDDHAS WHICH ARE HUGE, ESPECIALLY THE SO-CALLED RECLINING BUDDHA, WHICH IS THE LENGTH OF A FOOTBALL FIELD, THREE STORIES HIGH AND SOLID GOLD...NO ONE EVEN ATTEMPTS TO PUT A VALUE ON IT, ALTHOUGH IT MUST BE IN THE BILLIONS OR TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS AS IT WEIGHS MANY TONS

WHY CAN'T THE HEAD HONCHOS IN THAILAND SELL THAT OR SOME OF THE OTHER BUDDHAS AND RAISE SOME MONEY TO FEED YOUR STARVING PEOPLE AND MOVE THEM OUT OF SHANTYTOWNS...PARTS OF THAILAND, A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY IF THERE EVER WAS ONE, MAKE THE SOUTH BRONX LOOK LIKE BEVERLY HILLS...IS IT BECAUSE THE KING OF THAILAND IS A SELFISH PRICK WHO DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT HIS PEOPLE...DON'T TELL ME HOW IMPORTANT THOSE RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS ARE, ETC..I KNOW THAT...BUT IT'S NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN SAVING STARVING PEOPLE...YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS, SPEARMASTER???

[Blowfish]

What in the hell is it with all the religious stuff? For GOD's sake, they don't sell the damn buddha's because they are a religious symbol to them. It would be like using all those cows in India to produce a beef market. How about we just control prostituion and healthcare and make some mandatory birth control laws?

[The Prophet]

Blowfish makes some good points, but in addition to those I'd add what I consider the most salient:

Assuming that the head honchos were to sell the Buddhas and get a significant amount of jack for them, the money would most likely end up in the pockets of the same honchos. The poor people starving would still be starving. That's the problem with most instances of "top down" largesse--very little of the money raised to help the intended beneficiaries actually gets there. You see similar problems with a number of charities in our country that spend the overwhelming percentage of the funds the raise in salaries for executives, administrative costs, and other expenses that don't help those the money was intended to.

JRM
THE PROPHET
www.netprophetsports.com

[Blowfish]

I'm also sure the U.S. probably give a nice chunk of change to Thailand which is meant to help feed its poor starving citizens; maybe even to educate them......but most of it probably just lines the pockets of those head honchos.

[Te tutava nei matou]

most third world countries---mexico is a perfect example---have no real middle class, meaning everyone in the country is either poor or rich, nothing in between

in mexico, brazil, places like this, 90-95% of the people live in poverty, and 5-10% are super rich and have most of the nation's money

in the usa, there are rich and poor of course but most people qualify for middle class...most people in the usa are not real rich and not in poverty

thailand is the same way...only the nation's money---the gold buddhas, the emerald buddha, all the rest---belong to the people and they never benefit from it

that's why thailand is, always has been and always will be a loser country

also, in thailand if anyone criticizes the king in any way its a criminal offense

[STEVE TURNER]

I missed something here. What does this have to do with off-shore gambling?

[Blowfish]

Absolutely nothing!! But it beats the hell out of bashing Costa Rica for awhile. If they can't eat in Thailand, they certainly aren't rushing out to hook up their new cable modems.

But at this time of year, who cares, its entertainment.